Against All Odds
by LOKI95
Summary: A young boy is brought from the ruins of New Constantinople to Onyx to train as a Spartan. This is his story.
1. The Jump

**Alright, this is my first Halo fanfic, so please, no flames. I do not own Halo, Bungie, 343, and Microsoft do. All characters belong to me, all other characters mentioned, such as those in Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, do not belong to me.**

**2400 Hours, September 29, 2542**

**Onyx, Unknown Location**

I watched the trees fly by as the drop ship soared through the sky. I could almost imagine that they were the forests from my home planet, with my house just over the next hill… but I knew that was impossible. New Constantinople was gone. I'd been forced to watch as the Covenant had burned the planet to ash, along with my family.

When a man dressed in a dark, jet black uniform had asked me if I wanted some revenge, I took the chance. I apparently was going to be something called a Spartan, a soldier that could get back with the monsters who had destroyed my home. The next thing I knew, I was going cryo tube on a ship traveling through slipspace with easily a few hundred kids. Crazy, huh?

Then, as soon as we get where we've been going, we get right back on the drop ships because some man told us too. And so, here I was, flying at almost supersonic speeds in some unknown part of the galaxy.

A man dressed in a dark green outfit grabbed a megaphone that was hanging from his belt and started to yell into it to be heard over the wind blowing by the open back hatch.

"Alright maggots! You see those packs over there on that rack? Grab 'em!"

All of the children aboard, including me, shuffled and bumped their way over to the rack and grabbed the packs. We all turned to face him again.

"Boys and girls, we're going for a little jump!" The man yelled as he grabbed hold of the edge of the ship. "Strap on your packs like so!"

He demonstrated how to put the packs on properly and then returned to his yelled instructions as everyone fumbled with their straps.

"When you jump, count to three and then pull the handle by pulling it across your chest! If you can't do this, then you can't be a Spartan!"

I clenched my hand. Of course I could do this! Then I looked down. We were hundreds of feet in the air, just at the point where trees looked like toothpicks and fields looked like blocks of bright green. I backed away from the edge quickly. I hadn't told anybody except for my now dead sister that I was afraid of heights. I felt pretty panicked. Hey, if you had to face your fear out of the blue, I'd bet my money that you would freeze up.

"Alright, form a line!" The drill sergeant barked. We all obeyed.

I found myself near the front of the line, just behind the fourth person. I could almost imagine that my knees were knocking together in fear. There was a pause, then the first kid looked up at the man and took a deep breath, as though he was going to jump into the deep end of a pool.

"Go!" The man yelled. The boy, with a little shriek, jumped and disappeared into the night sky. "Next!"

A small, scrawny little kid crawled on his hands and knees to the edge, looked down, and I swear, I heard him squeak. "Go!" The boy did a sort of somersault off the edge and he too disappeared.

Another boy, this time a tall and big one, stood at the edge now. He turned back around to face us, and gave us a mock salute. We all giggled. You gotta laugh at that, you know? The sergeant scowled. "Go!" The boy jumped off backwards and vanished. "Next!"

The girl ahead of me stepped forward and stopped. She glanced back at me and caught my eye. Her blue eyes caught my green ones and she turned around. "Go!" She smiled, took a running start, and she was gone. "Next!"

My turn…

I shuffled to the edge and glanced down. The trees looked less like toothpicks now, and more like small spikes that I would fall on if I jumped. "Go!" At that instant, a million horrible ways of dying flashed before my eyes: falling into the engine somehow, getting impaled on a tree, tripping on the deck as I jumped and landing on my head, the parachute not working…. The list was endless.

A small kid's voice whispered in my ear. "You can do it. Jump!"

And I jumped.

**Yeah, sorry it's a little short, but there's really not much to say yet. I promise, it'll get better.**


	2. Free Falling

**2440 Hours, September 29, 2542**

**Onyx, Unknown Location**

I bet getting pushed out of a flying vehicle going at almost supersonic speeds sucks pretty bad. Let me tell you, it's worse when you know that you just jumped _yourself_. Also, it gets worse if you are afraid of heights. Which I am. Did I forget that tiny detail? Well, there you go.

The wind whistled by in a drawn out, eerie moan as I plummeted toward the green carpet underneath me. It tore at my standard issue black fatigues and my pack and forced me into a violent somersault. The air was so cold, it felt like I was being pelted with icicles. I felt around for the handle of the parachute, but couldn't find it. My eyes widened as I reached what looked like less than five hundred feet of the ground. Then, all of a sudden, I felt a hard handle, pulled, and I was yanked backward and into the crisp night air.

The straps of the pack bit into my shoulders, and I winced in pain. Then I realized what it meant, and glanced up. The bright yellow parachute fluttered and caught the air as I smoothly began to fall back down earth again. I almost laughed in exhilaration. I made it! I think I actually whooped and pumped my fist in the air. I held onto the chords for dear life as an open and inviting green field panned into my vision and got closer at every second.

There was a loud bump and crash, and I was on the ground covered in fluorescent yellow. I tried to move, but the wall of yellow surrounding me stopped me. I'll admit it, I started to freak out. Every time I tried to moved my hand, it was stopped by the sea of fluorescent yellow.

"Help! Someone help me!"

That continued for a bit. It was probably about twenty minutes that I was doing this. Yeah, not one of the proudest moments in my life. Then, I heard quiet footsteps run over to where I was at and heard a soft voice whisper,"Shhh! Don't worry man, I'll help you out."

I calmed down and stared curiously at where the voice had come from. I recognized that voice. _That's the same voice I heard on the drop ship!_ I thought as I felt a hand reach down and attempt to pry open my yellow cocoon. It started to give until there was a small gap in between the edges of the material. I put my hands on the edges and started to help push. The chute gave even more, and the next thing I knew, I was breathing the cold night air again. I lay there, gasping for breath, as a dark, tall figure leaned up from the parachute wreckage and stretched.

After I had quit acting like a fish out of water, I started to try to make out my savior through the oppressive darkness. I could only make out his jet-black hair. He reached out a hand and yanked me off the ground.

"C'mon, I think I heard some of the men over in that field over there," The kid said as he turned to the left and led the way through the trees.

"Thanks," I said, my voice sounding really small.

"Don't mention it. My name is Jacob. What's yours?"

"Darren."

"Well, nice to meet you, Darren," Jacob said as he pulled a branch out of the way to reveal a line of drop ships parked in the middle of a field. Lights were on top of post, shining down and lighting up the ground. I looked around and saw other yellow parachutes surrounding the field in all directions. Some of the kids were yelling and running around as the instructors tried to catch them. We both chuckled as one of them managed to hide on the other side of some bushes as a drill sergeant hurried by following the path the kid had been traveling, just like in a chase scene from one of those cartoons on a holovid.

I glanced closer at the kid and noticed that it was the same one who had saluted as he jumped. Even as I watched, another instructor found him and he started running again, laughing while he did it, while the man tired man tried to catch him. _At least he's having fun._

As soon as we stepped into the clearing, an instructor walked up to us with a wary look on his face.

"Head over to those Pelicans and wait for us to finish up here," he growled.

We looked around for the birds he was talking about, but we couldn't see any. I know, dumb, right?

The trainer almost moaned and pace-palmed. "I meant the vehicles, maggots!"

We stood defiantly as the man got madder and madder.

"Now!"

We still stared at him blankly, silently daring him to try to make us get on. Why should we have to listen to him? He pulled out a black rod, pressed a button on it, and swung it at me. I'm not gonna go into detail here, so let's just say that it was freaking unbearable and leave it at that. Those electrical rods really pack a wallop.

Yeah, as soon as I caught my breath, we took off pretty fast towards the "Pelicans". I guess I got my reason to listen to him. We waited for what felt like an hour, but I guess that it really was only about fifteen minutes. The kids had started walking very solemnly towards the Pelicans, as if they knew that this was their last time with any freedom. Even the clown from earlier had a frown on his face.

The drill instructors followed after them, wearing expressionless masks that showed nothing at all. After we had all filed in, the leader of the camp we were about to go back to stood up in front of us. I think his name was Ambrose or something.

"Congratulations." He barked. "You all just got admitted into the Gamma series of the SPARTAN III program. You are now Spartans!"

We had all been staring dumbly at him until we all heard the last sentence. There was a bit of muttering, but the instructors activated their rods and everything quieted down. I apparently wasn't the only one to suffer the wrath of the men in green.

"You will all be brought back to base for a bit of shuteye, and then wake up at 0600. File into the Pelicans. Dismissed!"

The time was 0130.

_Darnit._


	3. Day One

**0600 Hours, September 30, 2542**

**Onyx, Unknown Location**

"_Darren! Darren!"_

_I looked around and saw my twelve year-old sister trying to make her way to me through the people running through the streets, trying to get away from the monsters. _

_I tried to move, but for some reason, I couldn't. One of those, _things_, turned toward my sister._

_I saw what looked like a blue light fly into my sister's back, and my sister fell to the ground, smoke curling from a blackened and charred hole on her back. I screamed and screamed and screamed. I yelled her name over and over again._

"_Sarah!"_

_My parents were lying next to her. I hadn't been able to see them through the crowd._

_I called out to them too, but they didn't move either._

_I heard a loud whooshing sound and turned. Another blue light was heading right for me! I tried to move, but once again, my legs wouldn't cooperate. The light hit me in the chest._

_I howled in pain and fell writhing to the ground._

My entire body was on fire!

I yelled as I felt the energy surge through my body. Then, to top it off, my shudders and jerks of pain made me fall off my bed and onto the hard, cold floor. Fun.

A drill instructor leaned over me as I groaned in pain.

"Did you have a nice nap?" He asked as he brandished his stick for another whack, just in cause I didn't get up immediately. Which I couldn't because I was freaking suffocating.

_Zap!_

I took off then, running to the trunk that stood in front of my bunk and opened it. Inside, there were some neatly folded black fatigues with some writing on it.

Darren-G128.

I put them on and followed the other kids outside. It still felt like the tingle of electricity was still arcing its way through my body.

A gray-haired instructor stood outside in the middle of a grassy field. I think his name was Mendez.

As soon as we reached the edge of the grass the man barked," Form lines with ten in each row! Now!"

We hurried to obey. After some confusion, a few whacks from the instructors, and some kids running into each other, we finally got all sorted into what he had asked.

"Alright, one hundred jumping jacks! One! Two! Three!"

We all started, and pretty soon, we were all sweating. The sun on Onyx seemed to be extra hot today. As soon as Mendez reached fifty, I started to feel the burn. I'd never done jumping jacks like this before at school! This was a whole new level of torture.

Some of the chubbier kids were already starting to get tired, but the some of the instructors ran up to give them some motivation. Thank goodness I enjoyed gym. This wasn't gym though.

"Ninety nine! One hundred! Sit-ups!"

We all groaned and got into the sit-up position and started in.

We knew whenever someone couldn't keep up. There would be a loud yelp, and then silence, and we would know that another candidate had been put in their place. I saw Jacob hunch over and puke out his guts on the warm grass. This didn't earn him a reprieve though. As soon as he had finished, a drill instructor swooped down on him like a hawk and delivered a shock.

"Pushups! One! Two! Three! Four!"

I couldn't keep up. My underdeveloped arms tried to keep up, but I could tell that I was falling behind. An instructor walked up and watched me. It was the same man from earlier who had hit me with the electric rod. He smiled sinisterly and put a hand on his rod while I struggled.

When I saw that smile, I knew one thing. I could not let him win. I started to go even harder, looking at him with what I hoped was a defiant expression, but I think it was more of a grimace. I didn't even glance around anymore. I just looked at him with as much hate as I could.

"Stop!"

I literally collapsed to the ground. The only thing I could hear was the labored breathing of all of the recruits as we lay down on the soft, warm, dew covered grass. We stayed like that for at least one minute.

"Alright recruits! Get up! We're going on a run!"

We all moaned in pain as we tried to get up. More zaps were heard as those who were too slow were smacked with electricity. My instructor from earlier gave me less than .5 seconds before he started to lay into me with the rod. I was up in one second flat.

We took off.

I don't know how long we ran. It felt like hours. We ran through the forest, through a stream, down a road, and down the fence around the base. Finally, we returned to the barracks, where we all collapsed on the spot. Mendez simply stretched his arms out and looked at us with one of the cruelest expressions I've ever seen.

"Well, recruits, that was a good warm-up. Now, on your feet!"

I didn't even have the strength to moan.

_Six hours later…_

I didn't even have the strength to move as I saw the instructor with the rod stride toward me with an evil grin on his face. I decided that I wouldn't react, no matter what he did to me.

_Zap!_ One. _Zap!_ Two. _Zap!_ Three.

Again and again the shock went through my body, but it felt like I was in a dream, and the pain was at the back on my mind. I could hear the instructor swearing and yelling at me to get up, but I lay as still as I could.

Suddenly, I heard a loud, gruff voice yell "Instructor Gunnison! That is enough! I think it's pretty obvious that this child is not getting up."

"Y-yes s-sir! I was just thinking that sir." I heard him stutter.

"Then why do you keep hitting him like a dead horse, son?" I heard the older man say in a deadly tone.

"I… I don't know sir."

"Well, in that case, take a jog round the base. Ten laps should be good. That should be enough time to think it over."

"Sir yes, sir!"

I heard the thudding of grass, and then silence, save for the other children throughout the clearing who were still trying to catch their breath from the sudden exercise of the day. I glanced up. Above me was Mendez, looking as calm and removed as he did when he was ordering us to do exercises. He gave me a long, hard look, and then walked away.

"Follow me to the Schoolhouse, maggots!" I heard him say.

Oh great, school.


	4. School and Games

**1300 Hours, September 30, 2542**

**Onyx, Unknown Location**

Turns out, school wasn't so bad. That is, not as bad as doing exercise all day. I got a seat in the back of the class, right next to Jacob.

"So… that… sucked," He wheezed, still trying to catch his breath like the rest of us.

"Yeah," I said, "Not… fun."

As we sat there, we were given graham crackers and milk. I wanted to conserve mine, but it tasted so good that I had already gulped down the milk and had already started gnawing on the crackers by the time everyone had finally found their seat. Graham crackers weren't my favorite, but hey, beggars can't be choosers. And boy was I begging.

As I finished my first cracker, a blue light filled the room. A man appeared, dressed in full battle dress of what I assumed from lessons in school was what Native Americans looked like on Earth thousands of years ago.

"Welcome. I am the AI Endless Summer. I will be your teacher during your class time hours during training."

The other kids in the class kept talking. I shot a sideways glance at Jacob, who also looked at me as if to say _I'd wish they would shut up._

The AI stood impassively at the front of the classroom. Eventually, everyone stopped talking and looked at him.

He spoke again: "Oh, I suppose you will allow me to teach now?"

The kids in the room stared intensely at him, most not even blinking now.

"Thank you," the construct said, standing stiffly with his arms crossed.

"Let us begin."

The holoprojector table lit up and began to show a 3D battle of a group of men in armor with swords and spears fighting a larger group of men in different armor. The first group of men was greatly outnumbered, but they seemed to be holding their own. The entire class crowded around the table, watching intently as the soldiers began to push the larger enemy back until they finally broke and ran, leaving the men victorious.

"Those men are Spartans." Endless Summer said. " They are the best soldiers that humanity has ever created until recently. They held a small pass against thousands of Persians with only three hundred men many years ago. And someday, you will be even stronger than they were. The red men are the Persians, while the blue are the Spartans."

The red virtually surrounded the tiny blue men, but somehow, they were not failing.

Endless Summer continued: "Notice their teamwork, communication, and skill as they battle a far more numerous enemy. It does not matter about the size or the strength of a soldier, but the skill and teamwork. With skill, one can easily take out many enemies with as little effort as slicing a knife through butter. With teamwork…

The AI stopped and looked at us as the latest force of attacking Persians fell.

"Well, I believe we will be showing you those benefits soon enough."

_2 hours later…_

We all funneled out of the Schoolhouse to a waiting Mendez.

"Alright cadets, let's go for another jog!"

We all moaned as the other instructors forced us into lines.

We headed back around the fence and across the bridge from earlier, but instead of going back through the woods like I expected, Mendez had us follow the street all the way until it ended at a large, asphalt field full of metal obstacles, monkey bars, and climbing walls. We all looked at the place with glee, because we knew from experience in recess that a race was most likely imminent.

Mendez turned and faced us as we caught our breath.

"Cadets, welcome to the playground! What we have here for us today is a little race. Winners are anyone who rings the bell in the tower before the last team."

A kid raised his hand.

Mendez pointed at him.

"Sir," the kid asked, "what happens to the last team?"

Mendez looked at him with a look that almost seemed like glee. I realized with horror that he actually wanted someone to ask that question.

"They lose their dinner, cadet."

Everyone stared at him like he had just announced that someone was about to be executed.

Mendez continued, unperturbed by the looks of outrage and anger that were focused on him.

"We will split you up into teams of six, and when I blow my whistle, the race will start. Understood?"

We all nodded our heads.

My group wasn't the best, but I saw a few other groups that were worse off. We had a small, skinny kid about two-thirds my size (and I'm pretty small), a blonde-haired girl who kept on blabbing on about how they were calling her Kara-G184, the joker from the drop who actually seemed to be a good addition, and another girl with brown hair who seemed to be at ease with the group, chatting with the small boy. The main thing that I liked was that Jacob was put in our group.

As soon as he walked over, he looked at each of us and looked at the obstacle course.

"What are your names you guys?"

The joker looked up from his conversation and gave Jacob a glance over.

"Simon."

The brunette girl looked up and said her name too.

"Hannah."

The blonde girl, without even glancing at us, said, "Kara."

The small boy looked at all of us panicking slightly, and squeaked his name out.

"A-austin."

I looked at them all and uttered out, "Darren."

"Well it's great to meet you guys, I'm Jacob. Now that we all know each other, who is the fastest here?"

We all looked around, but no one answered.

I sighed.

"I was the fastest in my grade," I replied firmly as the others turned to me.

"Alright then, Darren, you need to grab one of those lifts over by the tower as fast as you can. I think I see one that goes to the top. Do you see it?"

He pointed it out to me and I nodded.

"There isn't room for all of us though. Austin, Kara, and Simon will be on that lift. There's another lift nearby that one that take us to the second level. You'll need to grab that one too, Darren. That lift will have Hannah, Darren, and me in it. If we work together, this should be a piece of cake."

We all nodded. It seemed like a solid plan.

"I think he's about to blow the whistle guys," Jacob said as he turned around again.

We'd better get ready."

I went down into a track stance that I had often seen on the playground on New Constantinople.

_Here we go._

Mendez brought the whistle to his lips and blew.


	5. Teamwork

**1600 Hours, September 30, 2542**

**Onyx, The Playground**

Yeah, I should've known that things were gonna go wrong as soon as I took my first step.

Right off the bat, Austin tripped and went sprawling into Kara. She let out a yelp as he pulled her down with him. Only one step in, and we had already lost a third of our team. By the time I was a quarter of the way to the lift, they still hadn't gotten up.

_Crap._

Simon, apparently, was much faster than me, so he had pulled ahead by about ten feet before I had even reached the halfway point. What a show off.

Jacob was somewhere behind me, wheezing and trying to keep up.

By the time we reached the lifts, another team had already taken them and were a decent height off of the ground.

"Maybe next time, losers!" on of them shouted as they made their ascent.

Jacob, Austin, Kara, and Hannah formed up on me.

"Well, I got nothing now," Jacob said as we watched the other team make it to the top.

Besides the team on the lifts, the other kids were having a rough time too. They kept on falling into the icy water underneath a wooden bridge in their haste to reach the bell. But they still had a head start over us.

_The best laid plans,_ I thought as we looked frantically for a way up.

Then we heard a voice from above us.

"Hey guys!"

We turned to the voice.

Simon was already two levels up on the tower and was currently waving at us with glee on his face.

"I found a rope wall on the other side! I was the only one using it! C'mon, I'll help you guys up!"

We all rushed around the side of the tower. Sure enough, there was the rope ladder.

Simon lay down on his stomach and reached out.

"C'mon! Grab my hand!"

We gave Austin a boost first, since he was the smallest, then Hannah, then Kara, and finally Jacob.

As I helped push him up, a kid ran around the corner and bowled over me, yelling "Hey guys! Over here! I found a way up!"

I hit the ground with a loud _oof! _I felt my bicep hit something sharp, and my whole left arm erupted in fire. I raised my arm until it was pulled off of whatever it had just been stabbed by. I looked underneath my arm and saw a jagged piece of rusted metal covered in red.

"Aaaaaagh!" I yelled as my wound met the air.

As the boy tried to climb up, Jacob, who was near the top, lashed out with his foot and kicked him in the face.

The kid dropped like a rock. I gotta admit, I felt a little satisfaction when he hit the ground.

I rushed back over and thrust out my right hand. Jacob took it, and with everyone heaving, I was pulled up.

I looked back and saw the kid being helped up by his teammates, a look of pure hate on his face.

Hannah looked at me in horror and said," Darren, you're hurt!"

I felt the side of my arm. My hand came back with crimson. Just looking at it made me a little dizzy.

"I'll be fine," I said as we rushed up the stairs to the next story.

We kept on running up the staircase until we reached the landing with the bell. A bunch of the children were still on the bridge fighting it out. The team that had taken the lifts earlier were at the bottom by now, standing near Mendez.

My arm gave an extremely painful throb and I doubled over in pain, clutching my arm.

Austin turned to face me and asked, "Are you okay?"

I nodded, clenching my teeth.

"Yeah, I just need to make it down and I'll be fine.

Austin offered his hand.

"You need some help. C'mon, lean on us."

The others turned to us.

Soon, they had all surrounded me and were practically dragging me to the bell.

We each rang the bell and slid down a slide we saw near the back of the tower. My shoulder felt like it was on fire.

Mendez was waiting at the bottom. He looked at us, made a check on his check board, and turned his attention back to the kids on the wooden bridge.

Without looking at us, he said," Nichols! Escort Cadet G128 to the infirmary. His arm looks like it needs tending to."

A drill instructor marched up and saluted Mendez. Then he said," Follow me," and tersely walked back to the building.

I looked back at the team, and they gave me a thumbs up. I turned back to the instructor leading me and stumbled trying to catch up to him.

Maybe my team wasn't so bad after all…

**Authors Note: **

**I realize that there are some obvious similarities between this book and **_**The Fall of Reach.**_** There is a reason for this. I believe that, although the Spartan IIIs were trained faster than the Spartan IIs, I believe that they would receive the same type of training due to Kurt Ambrose's desire to protect the cadets, but in a condensed and faster form. Since I am not trying to copy the book (what would the point be?), there are going to be definite differences in **_**how**_** the cadets react to the challenges ahead of them. And trust me, I have more challenges ahead of my motley group of cadets. Thank you for reading! Read and Review! ****Constructive**** criticism is encouraged.**


	6. Eclipse

**2000 Hours, July 9, 2549**

**Onyx, Unknown Location**

The hot jungle of Onyx was steaming in the late afternoon. I was surrounded by a mosaic of green, some dark, some light. The soft, wet dirt underneath me felt like a warm bed, so it was pretty easy to sink into it in my prone position. Moisture was thick all around me, and on top of that, it had just started raining again, making a soft pattering sound above me and dropping warm, wet water onto me.

_Perfect._ I thought to myself as a bolt of lightning flew through the sky. _That should help keep us out of sight._

I looked down at my rifle, a MA5C, one of my favorite weapons. I racked the chamber to make sure there was a bullet in it, and then cradled it in my arms. Sure they were only stun rounds, but they still packed a wallop. I reached down to make sure our stun grenades from the taken out instructors were okay and out of the mud. I wasn't sure if they would be affected by these conditions, but it was better safe than sorry.

"Jacob?" I whispered.

I saw a prone form move ahead of me to turn around. "Yeah?"

"How do we know this is gonna work, man?"

"Because I seriously doubt that these instructors are paying much attention. I think that one by the tree over there is actually asleep."

I held back a chuckle as I took the binoculars, also stolen, from Jacob. Sure enough, the man was napping just underneath the tree to the far right of us, only twenty meters away. I gave the binoculars back to Jacob.

"Do you think Austin and Simon already got it done?" I asked as I squinted through the rain.

"Well, if they did, they would have already set off the signal."

I nodded.

We waited for a while, the darkness closing in and the rain pouring down harder than before.

Finally, we saw a soft light ahead of us, winking on and off.

"All right Darren, it's party time," Jacob said as he readied his submachine gun.

We both rose as one and took aim at our targets.

I fired a round into the guy sleeping by the tree. He slumped over and fell face-first into the mud. I took aim at another instructor, this time alert to us. He tried to raise his weapon, but I responded with half a clip and he was down for the count.

I heard a loud ping behind me and turned in a hurry.

An instructor had apparently been trying to shoot me in the back with his rifle, but he had been shot down before he could pull the trigger.

I waved into the foliage to our right at Kara, silently thanking her for her timely save. I was lucky she was a good shot.

I looked around for more targets and when I saw nothing, lowered my rifle.

"All targets neutralized." I said.

"You guys ready to blow some crap up?" Austin said as he came out the underbrush in front of us.

"You bet, man," I said as I walked over to give him a high five.

He had to reach up a little, considering I was about a foot taller than him.

Jacob walked over to Simon and started whispering, pointing at the woods from where the others had come from.

"So did you guys get it done?" I said as I backed up.

"Yeah man, would I be here if we hadn't done it already? Oh, by the way, we gotta head out soon, cuz I think they're going to move her somewhere else tonight."

"All right, everybody form up on me. You too, Kara!" Jacob said as he and Simon walked over to us.

Kara slipped and skid out of the tree she was hiding in and jogged over to us.

"Did I ever mention how much I hate rain?" She moaned as she joined us.

"Yeah, you've been saying that this whole exercise," I said. The others laughed.

She rolled her eyes.

"Everyone knows the plan?" Jacob said as he reloaded.

We all nodded.

"Well, let's move out then. Simon just told me that they're moving her at dawn, so that doesn't give us much time. The time is 2245 hours. Everybody that still has a watch, I want you to synch it to the time 0100 hours in three, two, one… Mark."

There was a chorus of beeping all around as we set our watches, which we were actually allowed to start with at the beginning of the exercise.

"Lock and load, Eclipse, we're moving out!"

_2 hours later…_

I looked down from a hill at the brightly lit base ahead of us.

"Hey boss," I said as I scanned the base with binoculars, "It's not like the instructors to leave the lights on. I think they might have a trap ready for us."

"Yeah, I think so too. We just have to hope that those explosives Simon and Austin set up will do their work," Jacob said as he waved the others forward.

I looked at my watch. 0055.

"We got five minutes, you guys. We gotta move."

Simon groaned. "We're working on it. You've been checking that stupid watch every five minutes ever since we started walking. Would it kill you to just shut up?"

I could feel myself blushing as everyone moved to their positions. Kara would be providing sniper support from our current position while Jacob and Simon would move down the hill to the right side of the base. I would be with Austin, on the left flank.

Austin looked down at his watch. Thirty seconds left.

Jacob ran to Kara, and then came over to us.

"You guys ready to make some noise?"

"Heck yeah!" Austin replied.

I nodded my head.

Jacob ran back to Simon and went prone.

Then there was silence. I could feel and hear my own heartbeat thumping in my chest.

I looked at my watch. _Three, two, one…_


	7. The Raid

**Author's Note:**

**One long chapter coming up. This is my first combat chapter, so please, critique me all you like. But please, no flames.**

**0100 Hours, July 10, 2549**

**Onyx, Unknown Location**

A red fireball lit up the sky. The troops in the base ahead began to yell and scream. As I sprinted to the left of the front gate, I saw multiple instructors covered in red and lying motionless in the soft, damp dirt.

"I hope they like that TTR," I said as Austin and I reached the tunnel we had made earlier on the left side of the base. "Nice job man."

Austin had found those TTR mines while scouting the base before we made our plans. We had dug them up and had carried them into the forest so he could reprogram them to work with a detonator. He was good with that type of stuff. Then, we put them back where they were before. That was what the team had been waiting for all night; for Simon and Austin to place the mines.

Austin gave me a quick nod and jumped into the tunnel. Then I entered the darkness. It was very cramped, as we didn't have much time to dig a larger tunnel. I could clearly hear gunfire reverberating through the tunnel.

_I hope the others are doing good_ I thought to myself as I crawled.

After a minute or so of suffocating darkness, we reached the other side.

Austin gave me a hand up and yanked me to ground level to a scene of absolute chaos. Instructors were swarming everywhere like ants coming out from a destroyed anthill. Warthogs were motoring past us to get to the main gate where Simon and Jacob were providing a distraction. Apparently my hunch was right. The instructors _were_ baiting us to the base in order to win the exercise, but they obviously hadn't expected any surprises. Unfortunately for them, the TTR mines were a definite shock inducer.

I could barely see Simon and Jacob hiding in the trees just to the right of the base, their SMG and MA5B lighting up the entrance of the base. Instructors began surging from deeper inside of the base, firing as they went.

As I watched, several of them fell with confused looks on their faces into the dirt, red TTR paint coating their helmets. I smirked to myself. Kara and her DMR were doing their job well.

"C'mon Darren, we gotta move!" Austin yelled as he yanked me from the battle.

I nodded, and we began to sprint further into the base. As we rounded a corner of a barracks, a whole squad of instructors sneered at us.

"Light 'em up boys!" One of them yelled as the instructors opened fire. Automatic fire soon erupted around us, forcing Austin and I to run back around the far corner of the building again.

I fired a few burst from my assault rifle from my position nearest to the edge of the wall we were leaning against.

_We can't move!_ I thought in exasperation as a bullet grazed my arm, which I snapped back quickly. Luckily, the shot hadn't burst, as my arm would have been frozen if it did.

Then I remembered.

_The grenades!_

I hurriedly yanked one from my belt and, making sure the pin was out, chucked it around the corner. There was a bright flash and a loud bang followed by the screams of the instructors. I motioned Austin forward. He turned the corner and started rapidly firing with his BR-55. After waiting one second, I followed him.

The sight of the dazed instructors thrashing around on the ground made me grin as I opened fire. One clip for me and half of one magazine for Austin was all it took. The men fell into the mud and stayed there, dead for the remainder of the exercise.

I reloaded as I looked around again.

Judging from the diminishing sounds from the gate, I guessed that Jacob and Simon had drawn the Warthogs and quite a few instructors away. They wanted revenge after we had whooped them time and time again. Sadly, it was all part of the plan.

Hopefully, the others wouldn't fall back straight to Kara, or else she was screwed. A DMR was mainly for long range, and was poor in close range combat.

Another group of instructors started to move toward the gate as we ran past them. We fired on them as we passed. There were five thumps as each one hit the ground.

We rushed over what used to be the kill zone in their ambush without any resistance. Soon, we saw our goal: the command post on the right side of the base. None of the instructors seemed to be noticing us as we slowed down to pick our way through the bases buildings. We were able to get within 20 meters of the building until finally one of the instructors guarding the dark grey command post up ahead saw us. He yelled out a warning to his comrades and dashed inside the post.

All of the windows opened at once. Behind each of them was a deployable machine gun.

"Oh crap," I muttered as they all turned to face us. "Get down!"

I grabbed Austin and threw him and myself behind a ditch just as every gun opened fire. Dirt exploded all around us. The TTR inside of the bullets began to coat the top of the ditch with red. I tossed another flash out of the ditch and waited.

_Bang!_

I raised my head, and abruptly lowered it as another burst of gunfire flew by. The gunners were firing blind, but that didn't stop them from firing their weapons.

I looked at Austin, who was hugging the dirt, and then caught a quick glance of the command post again. Having not seen us for a minute, the gunners' fire slowly drifted down to periodic shots to keep us surprised.

"Hey Austin, I think I can reach the post if you provide some suppressing fire."

Austin looked at me as if I was crazy. Come to think of it, I probably was.

"You gotta be kidding me."

"Does it look like I'm joking?" I asked as I reloaded my rifle and racked the chamber.

He studied me for a moment. Then he smiled and nodded.

"Are you sure you can make it?" He asked as he shifted to where he would be ready to fire as soon as he crouched up.

"Probably."

"What!?"

I crouched, ready to sprint.

"On my mark. Three, two, one… Mark!"

I jumped out of the ditch as Austin started firing burst from his BR. The only thing I heard from then on was the sound of my breathing, and my heart pumping in my chest. I felt the dirt erupt around me as the instructors began to open up.

I heard the sharp crack of Kara's DMR as she noticed my desperate charge. I saw more than one instructor fall backward as I ran. I reached one of the windows and crouched under it, priming my last flash bang. I chucked it into the window and covered my ears.

I felt the grenade blow up and jumped over the windowsill and into the building. Each of the instructors inside the hallway behind the windows was on the ground, moaning and clutching their faces. I showed them no mercy.

I fired my rifle into the crowd at my feet until the moaning had stopped.

I looked at the window and waved. Austin quickly jumped up and ran over.

"That was nuts," he said as I lifted him inside of the window.

I nodded in agreement.

"Let's never do that again. Ever."

We quickly charged up the corridor and further into the infrastructure of the building. We soon reached the door that led into the command center. We met no resistance.

_I guess all of them were in that hallway _I thought as we formed up on either side of the door. I gave Austin a nod, and he kicked the door in.

I rounded the corner.

The barrel of a M6G pistol met me. Without even thinking, I slapped the gun away. It went off into the door. I punched the instructor currently facing me in the stomach. The he bent over as the air in his lungs escaped with a loud _oof_. I finished him off by bringing my elbow down onto the back of his neck. He folded over and hit the floor face first and didn't move again. I fired a round into his head for good measure. Austin passed me and ran into the middle of the room, where a chair was set up.

Sitting in it was Hannah. She was strapped into the chair with zip ties and had a length of duct tape over her mouth. She looked a little banged up, with a few bruises visible on her face.

The instructors had gotten permission to take one of us to a base in the jungle. They had chosen Hannah. When we woke up the next morning, we woke up to a folder on her bed and a variety of weapons placed in our room. All that had been written on the paper inside the folder was this: Retrieve the Hostage.

Austin removed the duck tape and from her mouth and began to worked on the zip ties with his knife.

"Thanks guys," she said as she was freed from the chair.

"Don't mention it," I said as I helped her up. "Just try not to get hit on the way out."

I handed her the pistol I had just taken from the instructor.

I turned to Austin.

"Are we clear?"

"For now," he replied. "But we need to move soon. No telling how long before the rest of the instructors are gonna be back from their wild goose chase."

I nodded. I turned back to Hannah. She looked a little weak. "Can you run?"

"I'm good to go, don't worry about me."

I looked at my watch. 0115.

I motioned to the others and led them down the corridor and to the windows. None of the instructors on the ground had moved. Each of us jumped out the window and onto the ground outside.

A bright light suddenly immersed us. I looked to the source and saw to two spotlight towers manned by three instructors each. All around us were instructors with assault rifles leveled and ready to fire. I heard a loud voice over the base's PA system.

"Drop your weapons and put your hands in the air!"

Austin and Hannah turned to me questioningly.

I dropped my gun. "Just do what they say guys. Play along."

Austin scowled. He dropped his BR and Hannah dropped her pistol. Then, we all slowly rose out hands.

Three of the instructors moved toward us to search us. One of them decked me as he jogged forward. The entire side of my face burst into agony. The others were knocked to the ground.

"Take that you worthless maggot!" He said as he got out a zip tie for my hands. Just as he was about to tie, he stiffened and fell over me. I turned my head and felt paint drip down from his head and onto my shoulder.

Chaos erupted. The instructors all opened fire on their attackers and us. I felt a sharp sting and numbness in my arm as one round hit it dead on. I yelled out.

"Darren!" Hannah called out as the volume of fire picked up.

"I'm fine!" I replied gritting my teeth.

Then, I heard the loud rumbling of an engine. I turned my head and caught a glimpse of a Warthog charging the ranks of the instructors. The soldiers raced out of the way of the vehicle and fired again and again into its chassis. The jeep got a red paint job in less than a second.

It approached us and, just as it was about to run us over, fishtailed into a stop.

There in the driver's seat was Simon, with Jacob in the back in the chain gun providing suppressing fire. Amazingly, they hadn't been hit.

"C'mon you guys!" Simon yelled.

"Heck yeah! Shotgun!" Austin yelled as he jumped into the passenger seat.

Hannah and I looked at each other and then at the full capacity jeep. We both leapt up in a race to the back of the Warthog and clambered in.

"They're inside Simon! Let's go!" Jacob shouted as he let out a long burst from the chain gun.

Simon slammed down on the pedal and raced the Warthog through the instructors' reformed line. Once again, they jumped out of the way.

I kept my head down until we had exited through the entrance of the base, then looked back. Behind us was a group of very angry instructors trying to chase us firing as they went.

_Mission accomplished_ I thought as the instructors faded into the jungle.


	8. Graduation Day

**0420 Hours, February 19, 2551**

**UNSC **_**Hopeful**_

I tapped my foot on the deck of the Pelican, making a sound similar to a drumbeat.

I was nervous. We were about to see whether any of our training over the last ten years would be worth anything. Augmentations were today.

Lieutenant Ambrose, our commanding officer, had offered us all a way out. He'd shown us what had happened to other Spartans. Said that many were horribly disfigured, or simply died outright. The transformation would be painful, even if we made it. He asked if anyone wanted to opt out.

No one raised his or her hand.

The Lieutenant had seemed very pleased with that.

There was no way that I, after so many years of training and preparation, could even think about backing out. And besides, I _had_ volunteered for the program. That didn't make me any less nervous, though.

I looked around at the group that surrounded me. My team. My friends. My family.

Jacob caught my eye first, being the person sitting in front of me. He nodded and continued to stare straight ahead like he had been since we had taken off. Throughout out training, he had been a good leader and always seemed to have a grasp on almost any situation.

He looked exactly like he did when we had first seen each other except for a curved scar over his cheek from when and instructor had gotten too close in a close combat exercise with a knife. Needless to say, the instructor paid for it dearly.

Austin, in the corner of the drop ship, was humming quietly to himself. Whenever I saw him when not on a mission, he always had a mischievous grin on. He always seemed to be laughing about something or other, probably because of the shenanigans he and Simon got into. He had let his dark brown hair grow longer than regulation, to the point that it was almost in his eyes. Despite having all this time to grow, he was still the shortest out of all of us by about a foot or even more. He was by far the best with explosives out of the whole group, and a useful scout due to his size.

Hannah, he long brunette hair with red streaks in it, was by far the best medic in the class of 330 Spartans about to disembark. She could work magic with a bio foam canister, and was an expert at giving emergency first aid. At one point in training, she even helped me when I had broken a leg during an airdrop exercise, and had eased the pain enough to allow me to walk, albeit with my arm around her shoulders and a very pronounced limp.

Just another reason I hate heights.

She was in her corner of the Pelican and was sitting with her head in her arms. For a second, I thought something was wrong, but then I noticed the pattern of her breathing. She was only asleep.

_Lucky._

Kara was picking at her fingers, like she always did when she was nervous. Luckily, it never affected her aim. She was the third-best shot on base. She was also our resident stealth expert, able to sneak up on any Spartan or instructor on base, except for Olivia from Saber Team, that is. That girl was a freaking ghost.

Unfortunately, she always seemed to rub her skills in everybody else's faces whenever she could, and she was extremely cocky. For someone whose job was to be a silent sniper, she was quite the chatterbox in combat.

Simon sat near the back of the Pelican, right next to the ramp. He was staring at the ground, his jaw clenched. His black hair was cut in a short mohawk, with the wisp of a beard starting on his chin because of the artificially induced puberty we had been given. He was our best pilot. Give him any flying machine, human, Covenant, heck, even a 20th century Wilbur and Orville Wright airplane; he could fly it. I bet he was wishing he were flying this bucket at the moment. He didn't like it when other people flew us. Control issues, I guess. But then again, we all felt the same way about space travel.

At one point in training when we were around nine, he had tricked us into following him to the base's hangar, where several of its Pelicans were stored. He had told us that he only wanted to have a look at the inside of one, but once he was in the cockpit, he was pressing buttons, closing the hatch, and preparing for liftoff. After a six-mile joyride, the instructors had caught us and had given us KP for a week. But, we didn't crash. So I guess that's a plus.

He had been unusually quiet since take off, without a joke or funny comment like he usually did before a mission.

Then again, there wasn't much to laugh about right now.

There were no windows in the Pelican, but I knew what I would see outside in the dark and vast emptiness ahead of us; a giant field hospital, named the _Hopeful_. It was the largest mobile medical base ever built by human hands, and it had accomplishments that easily matched its size. And right now, it was our destination.

I looked around again, and gave a satisfied smile. We were ready.

My leg stopped tapping.

"We're there candidates! Dropping the ramp in five!" our pilot said as he brought the craft to a soft landing.

The ramp opened to a view of a wide hangar, with Longswords and Pelicans everywhere. Technicians, medics, and engineers were running about, making preflight checks, wheeling wounded around, or refueling and repairing ships.

We filed out in an orderly row, with Jacob in front. We joined the rest of the group, who were marching single-file past The Lieutenant. As we passed by, I straightened and saluted him. So did the rest of the team.

Ambrose saluted back, watching proudly as we marched deeper into the ship.

We entered the medical wing, where the teams were separated from each other and placed into separate rooms, each containing six pods lining the wall with tubes and vials full of liquid.

I gulped. This was it.

I waited for the ONI medical technician to leave the room, and then turned to my teammates. I cleared my throat.

"You guys… In case I don't make it, I want you to know… It's been the greatest honor training with each of you."

The others smiled.

"Well, I'm glad it was great for you," Simon said with mock seriousness. "It was terrible for me."

We all started laughing.

"Yeah, you're not the one who was actually shot with an actual bullet from their teammate!" Austin said as he doubled over in laughter.

The others started laughing even harder. I tried not to blush. During a live fire exercise, I had accidentally shot Austin in the knee. Although he had fully recovered, he loved to bring it up whenever he could to make fun of me.

"Okay guys, calm down. Darren brought up a good point," Jacob said turning sober and holding up his hands to motion for quiet. "It's been great working with you guys, and I would never trade any of you for anyone else on any other team."

The others stopped laughing and turned to Jacob.

"Likewise," Hannah said.

She put two fingers over her mouth, the Spartan version of a smile that we usually used in our SPI armor suits. We all repeated the motion as well.

The technician stepped back in.

"Alright, let's get started. Candidates, please go the pod with your number on it and lay down on the table inside of it. The augmentations will begin shortly," She said, as she checked off her clipboard.

I shook hands with each member of the team, offering luck and exchanging jokes as we all walked into our separate pods.

Luminescent orange sterile lighting lighted up the inside of the pod, and it felt strangely dark. I laid on the table, trying hard to ignore the two needles on either side of me that would, if I guessed correctly, would enter my brain through the temples to inject their chemicals. I shuddered.

A medical technician walked in with a needle in his hand and started feeling for a vein in my arm. He found one, and with a little pinch, pushed it deep into my skin.

"G128, I need you to count down from ten."

I started counting.

"Ten… nine… eight…"

The technician pressed a button and the machine around me began to move, bringing needles to where they needed to be injected. The needles beside my head began to spin.

I took a deep breath, and kept counting.

"Seven… S-six… F-five…

My vision was turning blurry, the lights in the pod taking on an almost bloody quality.

I tried to finish the countdown, but could not. My world went black as the sound of the whirring needles drowned out my ears and the needles all around me punctured me.

**Author's Note: **

**I got the inspiration for the end of this chapter from one of the live action trailers for Halo: Reach where Carter is being transformed into a Spartan. If you are confused, please watch that trailer, it will probably help. Plus, the trailer is just awesome, except for the needles. Yikes!**

**I would also strongly urge you guys to review. You have no idea how much of a boost it gives me when someone comments on my story. It will inspire me to write faster, which means more chapters for you, the reader! Thank you!**

**Until next time, R&R!**


	9. Spartan

**2200 Hours, February 20, 2551**

**UNSC **_**Hopeful**_

I woke with a start. I tried to thrash around, but was stopped by a metal clamp that was holding my arms and feet down. I started to freak, confused by my surroundings, but then I remembered. The _Hopeful_. The augmentations.

I sighed.

My dreams had been terrible, as usual. It was always the same one: the Covenant, my world burning, and my family dying in front of me. I shuddered.

_It's in the past Darren_, I thought as I tried to move again.

I gave an experimental push on the clamp on my right arm. It bent. I pulled back in shock.

The clamp, which had been a straight line, was now bent in a twenty-degree angle.

_Holy Crap…_ I thought as I stared at the dent.

A nurse walked with a tray and placed it on a table. She turned to me and started as she realized I was awake.

"Hello, candidate, how are you this evening?"

That was a good question. On one hand, my temples were burning, as though two drills had just been forced through them. In a way, I guess that was true. I had a headache. My arms felt like they were burning slightly, and my legs felt about the same. My head was throbbing, and my insides felt like they had been taken away, turned inside out and then placed back in my body. But…

I felt more _powerful_. My muscles felt larger, and my vision was easily ten times better than it had been. I squinted. I could easily make out each individual bolt in the ceiling and the marks left by the welding of the ceiling from easily sixty years before.

"Very, very sore."

She smiled. "Yes, that is to be expected. Luckily, I'm here to give you some pain meds and-" her eyes widened. "No, wait!"

Too late.

Forgetting about the restraints, I moved to slide my feet off the table and onto the cold floor.

The metal groaned, and with a grating wrenching noise, pulled free of the ceiling. The clamps that had been holding me fell to the ground with a loud bang. I fell face down on the ground.

I heard the nurse give a startled shout and run out of the room, probably to get another doctor. I held my hand up to my face and moved it.

It moved in almost slow motion. I accidentally whacked the remains of one of the clamps. A dull ache spread through my arm, but I felt no serious pain. I smiled. I waved my hand as fast as possible, but it still looked like it was moving through water.

I leapt up from the ground and onto my feet. I wobbled, trying to get my balance, and, failing, quickly tasted the floor again.

Another doctor walked in, this time a man.

"I wouldn't be doing that yet."

I nodded, and with a lot of great effort and precision, sat on the bed. Okay, I actually flopped back onto it.

The doctor started grabbing vials from the tray that the nurse had brought in and putting their contents in syringes. He looked at the machines on the floor, raised his eyebrows at me, and turned back to his work. I blushed.

"You won't have a lot of coordination for a while. Your body is just trying to get used to its new strength and bone structure. We'll be giving you therapy exercises to work on while you recover," he said as he walked over to me from the tray.

"How long will that take?" I asked, my body finally lying firmly back on the table.

"It depends. You can't rush it, or you'll hurt yourself by going too far. It's mainly up to the body to recover from the changes we've made to it. But, if I had to guess, maybe around three months," he said as he squirted out some of the syringe to get rid of the air inside of it and pressed it into my arm. I shuddered as I felt the metal break through the skin and injected its contents.

"Got it. Three months, therapy, and don't push too hard. Check."

The doctor nodded. "Very good. I need to go check on the rest of your team, and then I will be back to make sure the meds are working. Is there anything that I can have a nurse grab for you?"

"Water," I croaked.

"Very well. I'll be back later."

The doctor started to leave, then turned around.

"Oh, also, your commanding officer apparently wants to see all of the candidates as soon as they are all awake. So, you might actually want to get your balance down pretty quick."

He left, leaving me with my thoughts.

I grabbed a mirror off of a white table next to me and looked in. Staring back was brown haired, green-eyed Olympic athlete. There was a small scar around the edge of my mouth where I had tripped over myself on the way to the chow line. That had been embarrassing. I looked so much older than I was. I looked like an adult athlete. In reality, I was only in my teens. The augmentations had changed my body from a kid to an adult in less than 24 hours.

I experimentally shoved one of the clamps on the floor with my foot. It skidded a good ten feet before it slammed into the wall on the other side of the room with a loud clang.

These new abilities could change everything. We could break through solid titanium. We could move faster. We could even kill someone with one blow. That is, as long as I got my balance…

_6 hours later…_

Jacob walked in.

"C'mon, are you dressed yet man?"

I threw my hospital gown at him.

He sidestepped it easily, laughing.

"You don't have to watch me like a parent you know. I know how to get dressed," I said as I started to button up my pure white dress uniform.

"Really? You can do that? That's incredible! Then hurry the heck up. We need to be down there by 0430 and you're gonna make Eclipse late."

I brushed some dust off of my uniform and turned back to him.

"Alright. Done. You happy now?"

"Actually, yeah, I am," he said as he led the way into the hallway.

I followed him until we finally entered the room I had last seen my teammates in.

I saw Austin in the corner, quietly talking with Hannah. Simon and Kara were standing at the doorway, talking as well and waiting for us. But there was something odd about Simon's hair. Before, it had been jet black. Now, it was…

"White," Simon said as we walked up. "That's what your thinking, isn't it?"

"Yeah. What happened to you?" I asked as we all walked out of the room and back to the hangar. I couldn't help but admire the ease we walked with now compared to before the augmentations.

"Docs can't explain why. Something to do with the pigments in the chemicals, or some sciency mumbo-jumbo. I dunno. Chemistry and biology aren't my best subjects. Ask Hannah."

"I have about as much clue as you do Simon," she said as we arrived in the hangar.

"But I like it. I don't think I'll change it."

"That's great Simon, I'm so happy for you and your self confidence," Kara said.

All of us except for Simon chuckled as we fell in line behind the other candidates.

We waited another ten minutes, then Lieutenant Ambrose walked on a platform above all of us.

Mendez, on the step below him, barked, "Aten- hut!"

We all straightened and saluted. Ambrose returned our salute and then said "At ease."

I put my hands behind my back and put my feet at shoulder width.

"Spartans."

The word echoed off of the walls of the hangar. I realized with a start that the entire hangar was empty except for us.

"Yes, you heard me. Spartans. Every one of you has overcome great challenges. You will overcome still many more. Each of you has demonstrated the qualities of a Spartan throughout these difficulties by overcoming them against all odds. Because that is what Spartans do. We fight as hard as we can, no matter the opposition. We prevail no matter the situation. We realize, above all else, that the mission comes first. Because you too have come to know this during your years of training, I would like to be the first to congratulate you. And I have no doubt that you will honor the name of Spartan to your last breath. Well done. You are now Spartans!"

The triumphant cheers of 330 Spartans filled the hangar as Ambrose finished his speech.

But, despite the celebration around me, I felt a little sad. I could never go back. Sure, I had actually _volunteered_ for this. But, now that the augmentations had finally finished, I realized something.

I had just left my old body behind. No one could ever call me normal again. I would always stand out, maybe not in size, but in the way I moved and in the way I acted. I was different, literally to my bones and DNA. I wasn't human anymore. I was now a legend. A myth. A Spartan.

**Author's Note:**

**Well, now they're Spartans! Let the Covenant murdering commence!**

**For those wondering, Simon's hair changed due to the chemicals injected into him during the procedure. I saw a similar thing in the Birth of a Spartan trailer when Carter's eyes turn blue due to the blue chemicals injected into his bloodstream.**

**Thank you those who are reviewing! You make all this writing worth it!**

**Until next time, R&R!**


	10. War Games

**0800 Hours, August 20, 2552**

**UNSC Frigate **_**Inclement Weather**_

I donned my SPI armor as the ships PA system blared.

"Spartan teams Nova and Eclipse, please proceed to B deck for scheduled War Games exercise at 0830."

"I know, I know," I muttered, sliding on the light green, bulbous suit's gloves.

I hated this armor. It looked terrible, felt clunky, and was next to impossible to fix in the field. Yeah, it could turn partially invisible. Big whoop. It still felt like second-rate crap. Luckily, that could possibly change after today.

The winner of today's War Games exercise would be able to receive the pick of the litter for new equipment. And boy, did we want upgrades. Bad.

With my helmet in hand, I stepped into an elevator on E deck and sped on my way to B deck.

Nova team was pretty good. We were neck and neck in the rankings of our class. That is, not even including Saber, Gladius, and Katana. They had been left on Onyx to compete for "top honors."

I huffed. I bet we could've taken them.

Nova's leader, Josh, was amicable to us usually, but he was downright fierce in a firefight. He was not a faster thinker than Jacob, but he did well enough to lead a team. He was cocky though, which affected his reactionary decisions, able to be baited easily into traps. We would definitely use that to our advantage.

I entered the dark armory. The white lights lit up as I stepped inside. No one was here. Either the others hadn't been here yet, or they had already left me behind. I placed my helmet on one of the benches and walked over to the wall of weapons in front of me.

I grabbed an MA5C off of a rack and hefted its weight. Its reassuring firepower had gotten me out of quite a few jams in training, and I knew that I could always count on it. I grabbed six clips for it and placed them in the webbing I had placed on my armor. I wouldn't need too much firepower. Fights between Spartans were always quick and ferocious. And besides, I had to stay light on my feet.

I reached down onto the table in front of me and grabbed an M6G pistol, testing the weight and spinning it in the air before placing it into the holster on my right side. Although not as powerful or as accurate as the M6D, the M6G was good for close quarters. Its compact form was perfect for room-to-room searches. And, as we would be inside a room for the duration of the match, it was perfect. I grabbed a dozen clips for it and shoved them into the pouches on my waist.

We were using TTR, which worked much better with suits on, as it could lock up the sections of the armor that were hit easily. It was a pain to clean off the armor, but there was a simple way to stop getting paint on it: don't get shot.

I grabbed my helmet from the table I had left it on and placed it on my head. The HUD did not light up though, and would not light up until we were in the arena.

I sealed it and exited the armory through the other side, at our entrance to the arena. The rest of Eclipse was there already, fastening gear to their armor and listening to Jacob as he gave out instructions.

"Simon, you will have the left with the MG. If you see anything, light it up. But don't forget, you're the bait. We need them to come to you for the ambush to work, so don't scare them off."

Simon nodded, racking the bolt of his MG and raising two fingers to his visor in a smile.

"Glad to oblige, sir. But, I gotta ask, why am I always the bait?"

"I've told you a million times, its because your more noticeable than the rest of us. Your height makes you a very appealing target."

"Just once, though, why can't the dwarf be the target?"

"Hey!" Austin shouted, turning from his BR.

"Just kidding buddy," Simon chuckled as he set the MG on the ground.

"Glad you could join us, Darren," Kara said as she placed four 14.5x114 millimeter rounds into her SRS Anti-Material Rifle.

"Yeah, what is it with you and being late all the time?" Hannah said while fiddling with her helmet.

"I love to always be fashionably late," I said as I sat down on one of the crates near the door.

"I'm happy as long as you made it to the party. Did you catch that?" Jacob said.

"Yeah. Simon gets shot and we spring a trap. Where am I going to go?"

"You're gonna be with me. Our goal is to flank them by going through their spawn. Kara will provide long-range fire support, while Austin and Hannah try to perform a pincer move around the front of Simon's position. With luck, we should have them surrounded on all sides."

I nodded. A solid plan. Except…

"What if this all turns sideways?" I asked.

Jacob turned to men as he placed his helmet on his head. I was still able to see his face, since the visor was not polarized.

"We'll adapt."

Before I could ask him what the heck was so wrong about having a back-up plan, the PA system blared again, this time the ship's AI _Athena_ speaking with her aloof sounding voice.

"Spartans, are you ready?"

"Yes ma'am," Jacob replied.

"Very good. Lowering the entrance in five. Prepare."

I racked the chamber on my assault rifle and stood next to Jacob, whose visor had now polarized. Simon stood in front of us as he gripped his MG, staring into the wall that would open into the arena. Behind us was Kara, sniper rifle raised in case she could get a good cross-map shot on Nova. Austin and Hannah readied their rifle and SMG, respectively, and got moved to either side of Simon.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Bing!_

My HUD lit up, showing my motion tracker and ammo count.

The doors opened and we sprinted forward. I heard Kara firing round after round past us as we ran to our respective positions. I was barely even breathing hard. In less than seven seconds, Jacob and I had already crossed half of the room. We both slid into a short wall and planted our feet, peering over the edge of the cover.

The arena was pretty large considering it was inside a starship. The lights were dim, which would have been a challenge if regular marines were using it. For us, with our night vision, it posed no problem.

The whole place had tall cargo containers with barrels placed here and there. Steel girders lined the floor, and twisted metal and burnt metal was everywhere. Some metal barriers were also placed at intervals, such as the place we were hiding behind right now.

I heard Jacob over the comm whisper, "Hey Simon, do you see 'em yet?"

"Not yet sir. Kara has confirmed that one of her shots connected, and one of their players is out already. I repeat, one of Nova is down.

"That's good news. Darren and I are about to move into their spawn, so if any are hiding there, we'll find them."

You know you don't need to whisper into the comm right? This is a secure- holy crap!"

I heard a long burst of MG fire come from our left, followed by the percussion of small arms fire, then silence.

"What was that!?" I yelled into the comm. "Simon?"

There was a burst of static, then someone answered.

"Don't worry guys, I'm fine. Austin and Hannah drove them back. But they got me pretty bad. My foot was sticking out of cover and they hit it. They also got my arm, so I can't reload at all."

"Just stay there, we're flanking around them to assist! C'mon Darren!"

We vaulted over our cover and ran the rest of the distance to Nova's base. Just as we entered a corridor leading into their base, I heard Kara yell, "Darren! Jacob! Watch out!"

I immediately ducked and fell flat on my face, hugging the ground. Jacob wasn't so lucky. As he fell flat, I saw a burst of red flash over his helmet. He hit the ground like a rag doll and didn't move.

"Jacob!" I shouted, rolling into cover. Good thing, because as soon as I had finished my roll behind a barrel, everything broke loose. Red covered the ground around me as Nova's TTR rounds lit up the area I had just been in.

I fired a few bursts from cover, but I knew there was no way to hit anything accurately. The clip emptied and I reloaded, sliding another one and sliding the bolt forward. I opened fire again. In the background, I could hear Kara and her rifle doing their work. Slowly but surely, Nova's firing slackened and then ended entirely.

I took a deep breath and reloaded again. Since Jacob was down, I guess that left me in charge. I keyed the comm.

"Guys, I'm pinned down at Nova's base. Freaking campers. They've got everything around it zeroed in. Eclipse leader is down! I repeat, Jacob is hit!"

There was a pause, then someone responded.

"Copy that," I heard Hannah say as I fired off another sustained burst. "We'll provide suppressing fire so you can bug out. Wait until we're in position, then we'll go on your mark."

"Alright, but make it fast! I think they're trying to flank around my left. Kara, keep that from happening!"

"You got it," she said coolly. I could almost picture her sighting down her scope, calm and collected.

The boom from her rifle's shots echoed around the room as she opened fire.

"Another one down," she said as I fired and started to reload.

"Nice job, Kara. Freaking MVP of the game."

I heard her laugh through my mike.

"You know it."

"Alright, Darren, we're in position," Austin said, his voice sounding anxious over the comm.

"Alright, on my mark…" I tensed. "Mark!"

I leapt from cover as the others opened fire. I could feel bullets from Nova's base splattering the floor next to my feet as I wove back and forth across the corridor. I raised my rifle behind me, and, without looking, hosed the corridor. Finally, I was out.

"Thanks guys," I gasped, putting my hands on my knees as I caught my breath.

"Don't mention it," Hannah said as she reloaded her SMG. "What's the plan now?"

I thought for a moment and then, it hit me.

"Hey Simon."

"What?" he said, limping over to the others and me.

"Remember what you said earlier? I think you're gonna get your wish. Austin, I need you to be our rabbit. They'll have less of a chance to hit you than one of us. You're going to run up the corridor, right into the kill zone. Use cover as you go, but remember, you need to keep their attention on you. How you do that depends on your creativity."

"Kara, you need to make sure he doesn't get flanked. Simon, since you're 'hit,' I need you to provide suppressing fire from back here. Hannah, you and I will go around the left. Any questions?"

"Hey Hannah, can I take your SMG? It's lighter than the rifle," Austin said as he stretched in place.

"Sure," she said, swapping with him.

"On go then. Three, two, one… Go!" I shouted as I turned around the side of our cover and sprinted across the open area to the left of Nova's base. I heard the thuds of Hannah's footsteps close behind me, as well as a long burst of MG fire from where we had just come from. The sound of rifle fire became an intolerable barrage of noise in my helmets audio systems, so I turned it down.

"Darren, there's a low wall over there that leads into the base. We can use it to flank Nova!" Hannah yelled, taking the lead. I followed her to the said gap and vaulted it after her. I raised my rifle.

"No contact," I said, keeping my eyes peeled for any movement. "Let's move."

The sound of gunfire grew even more as we approached the part of the base that Nova occupied.

"Austin, are you alright?" I asked as we finally reached the square where Nova was hiding.

"Yeah! They got me pinned behind a barrel on the left side of the corridor. I saw where they were. One's on the top left, another is under a table across from me, and another, I think it's Josh, is behind a yellow box on the right. I have no idea where the other one is!"

"Don't worry," I said, pulling out my magnum. "I do."

I lined up the sights, and squeezed the trigger. The bullet only had to travel two feet before it reached the back of my target's head. There was a spray of red, then the other Spartan fell to his knees and slumped to the ground.

He had been patrolling around here to watch for us. Fortunately, he had been facing the wrong way.

I holstered my pistol again and pulled my rifle back over my shoulder.

"Hannah, who do you want?"

"I'll take the guy on the top right with the DMR."

"Right. I'll get Josh," I said, lining up my sights with his crouching figure.

"Open fire!" I roared, pulling the trigger. Josh fell backward as if he was in shock, with a dozen TTR rounds covering his chest. I also heard the crack of the DMR from the left stop completely. Hannah had gotten her man. I reloaded.

Now, it was time to end this.

"Eclipse, move up now!" I yelled, suppressing the girl Spartan under the table.

The end was actually kind of pathetic. The girl, being outflanked and outgunned, had no chance. She was "dead" within five seconds. The lights turned on all the way, and my HUD turned off. My assault rifle's compass and ammo count turned off as well. It was now a "dead" weapon, unable to fire any rounds.

"Game over," I heard _Athena_ say over the ships intercom. "Eclipse team wins. Unlocking armors now."

I pulled out the magazine in my rifle. It had been my last clip. I looked inside it. Three rounds left.

Each Spartan that had been hit got to their feet, and began walking around. Josh walked over to me.

"You guys are freaking campers," I said, taking off my helmet.

"Yeah, well, with your sniper covering us, we didn't have much of a choice."

"Know she's a dead shot. Did she really nail one of you guys at the start?"

"Yep, Asad over there, our sniper," he said, pointing back toward their entrance to the arena. A Spartan was arguing with the girl we had shot earlier. He looked pretty mad.

"That must have been one heck of a shot."

"It was." He held out his hand. I took it and shook.

"Well played. It looks like you guys have first dibs to the new equipment coming in. Don't hurt yourselves."

"We won't," I said.

He turned away and walked back to his team.

I turned to the others and smiled.

"You heard him guys. Let's go see our prizes."

**Author's Note:**

**Extra long chapter! Whoo, this one was a doozy, but I think it came out pretty good. And so the team progresses. I decided to include War Games into this because I believe that, even though the **_**Infinity**_** had the first **_**simulated**_** War Games, they were still around before it. For example, in Ghost's of Onyx, when Katana, Saber, and Gladius teams duel it out. Thank you so much to those who have reviewed so far, it's because of you that this is such a long chapter. They inspire me to write my best.**

**Till next time, R&R!**


	11. New Toys and New Bruises

**1000 Hours, August 20, 2552**

**UNSC Frigate **_**Inclement Weather**_

We all entered the armory one by one. The lights turned on at full power, lighting up the whole space. In the center of the room, there was a long table that went from our side of the room to the door on the other side of the room. On it was an assortment of grey armor, in different shapes and sizes.

I nearly whooped in glee. I never had to wear that freaking SPI armor again.

A technician walked in and stood by the table. We put up our weapons and then lined up by the weapons rack on the wall opposite.

"Welcome Spartans. It appears that you came in first in the rankings, so you will be the first to try these new armor pieces. There are a few improvements over your present armor that I need to cover."

The tech cleared his throat and continued.

"The first improvement is by far the largest and the most helpful. This new armor has shielding capabilities."

Jacob whistled.

"That's quite the upgrade sir. I didn't know we were worth the extra credits."

"We've been able to reproduce the shielding on this new armor with cheaper equipment. Because of this, though, the suits have a smaller amount of shields available. These are not Spartan II suits. They're just equipment we've been able to convert from various branches in the military that are still in service."

"Typical," Kara muttered, scowling. "Second-rate bullcrap."

"I heard that," Simon assented.

The tech continued, nonplussed.

"Other improvements are in movement and reaction times. The armor will amplify how fast you move and will speed up how fast you react to situations. You will be able to reach speeds of over fifty miles per hour. Those faster than average may have even higher speeds. You may be able to even dodge bullets. Don't let it go to your heads, though. You're still very much killable."

"Now that we have that out of the way, let's get to the armor. Go ahead and pick one you like, then come to me, and I'll tell you about it. Go on."

We soon spread out across the table.

"Hey Darren, get a load of this," Hannah said, lifting up a helmet that looked like a box. It had no visor.

"Looks like a fish tank with no glass," I said, turning back to the technician. "What helmet is that?"

"Ah, yes, that is the GUNGNIR. It's especially helpful in moving combat scenarios. Note the camera on the front. Instead of using a visor like the rest, it covers the face. All of your visual information will come through that camera. Also, it-"

Hannah cut him off. "Yeah, that's cool and all, but it looks like crap. Got anything more stream lined? I don't feel like having a box jutting out of my head that could get shot at any second."

The tech nodded and pointed to the far right table. "Over there. We have some that are less bulky."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

I was having a hard time finding armor. The Commando armor seemed good, but it was more useful for behind the lines insertions. I sucked at being sneaky. I'd rather find something that was able to hold well under fire and be useful when trying not to be spotted. Another one that seemed good was the ODST helmet. But, I wanted to be set apart from those cocky son of a guns.

Finally, the tech seemed to notice my indecision and walked over with a helmet in his hand. It had large, rounded features, with a rise along the top of it with two black triangles pointing out the front on each side of the rise. It had a thin visor and an area of black alloy beneath it that covers the nose, surrounded by armor. The helmet was largely angular with a pair of what looked like breathers on each side of the mouth.

"You may want to take a look at this helmet. It's called Recon. It has better stealth capabilities and reduces your signature. It will stop you from being spotted as easily, and has increased zoom optics for long-range shots. It also comes with some attachments, such as a command network module or a UA/HUL."

I pondered for a minute, and then decided.

"I want the one with the CNM."

"Alright," he said, marking the clipboard behind him. What chest plate?"

I looked, and found one with webbing and extra pouches for ammo and supplies.

"That one." I pointed.

"Ah, yes, that one is recon as well. And the shoulders?"

I squinted at the far end of the table, where Kara was picking through armor. "The ones with ammo on the shoulders."

"Those are sniper rounds, as I'm sure you know. Do you want something else placed on them?"

"Yeah…" I thought for a moment. "How about we leave them bare for now?"

"Ok, that's fine. How about a utility?"

"The tactical hard case caught my eye earlier. How about that?"

"That's good. It'll help you carry sensitive equipment, I guess?"

I nodded.

"Do you want anything on your wrist?"

"The GPS," I answered quickly. I always got lost on missions. It would be helpful to have my own map, instead of asking the others all the time.

"What color?" The tech asked.

"Black and red."

The technician nodded, and made another mark.

"Visor?"

"Gold."

Another mark.

"Very well, your armor will be completed in two hours. You can continue to customize it when you receive it, but please, no unnecessary damage. One Spartan carved a skull into his EVA helmet. Can you believe that? Why would someone spend that much time just ruining a perfectly good helmet?"

I cleared my throat.

"Sorry, I'm rambling. You're free to go."

I nodded to the others and walked out into the hallway and back to my room.

_Two hours, huh?_

I could find something to do during that time. I undressed in my room and threw the SPI armor across it to my bed. No more need for that crap. I changed into some grey fatigues and left to go lift some weights.

When I got to the weight room, I first went to the bench and put 300 kilos on. I began to press the bar up.

_One…_

Another Spartan walked in. It was Asad, from Nova. He glanced at me, and then continued over to the throwing weights.

_Two, three, four, five…_

All of a sudden, I felt as if something was moving towards me. With lightning reflexes, I threw the bar up and flipped over to the left. I felt a whiff of air, followed by a loud clang as whatever it was hit the far wall. I glanced at it. It was a large, metal, hundred-kilo ball. I looked where it had come from.

Asad was busy grabbing another ball off of the rack, this time a hundred and ten kilo ball.

"What the heck man!?" I yelled, jumping out of the way as his next throw whizzed by me.

"You Eclipses think you're so much better than us. But I know the truth. You are cocky, thickheaded losers who only know how to spawn kill. That armor should belong to us."

"What in the world? Is that what this is about? It was only a game! Let it go!

_Whoosh!_

Another ball flew by, barely missing me as I dodged.

"Plus, we beat you fair and square! _And_ your team was camping, so I wouldn't complain about tactics!"

_Oof! _

The next throw connected. Ninety kilos smacked into me at full force. I felt a few ribs crack as I fell to the ground, wheezing for air. I nearly blacked out. When I could finally see, Asad was on top of me, about to bring his fist down onto my face, when a hand reached out and grabbed it.

Asad turned in surprise and brought his other hand around to punch his assailant, only to receive a fist to the face for his trouble. He fell like a ragdoll onto me and didn't move again.

I pushed him off of me, coughing blood up as I did. A hand reached down and picked me up. I finally could see my savior: it was Josh.

"Sorry about that. I tried to stop him, but when he saw you walking by our quarters, he snapped. He's just a sore loser."

"You don't say," I wheezed as I found my footing.

"C'mon, we need to get you to the medical bay. I saw the ball hit you. It looked like a nasty hit."

Josh picked up Asad and we began to walk to the elevators.

"It _felt_ like a nasty hit," I said as we entered the elevator on our deck.

"Man, I'm so sorry this happened. I just wanna let you know, the rest of us don't feel like Asad here. We all agree, you deserve the win. Though, spawn killing isn't cool."

"Neither is camping."

He laughed. "Touché."

We reached the medical deck and entered the bay. As soon as we entered, a doctor noticed us and ran forward.

"What on earth happened?" she said, gaping the unconscious Spartan in Josh's arms and me.

I probably looked like a mess, with blood going down my chin and shirt and rust from the ball on my shirt.

"A little accident in the weight room," Josh said as he laid Asad down on the table.

"An accident!? What were you doing up there?" she asked me.

I froze for a second. Would I tell her about Asad and what he did? Or would I just let it go?

"Just throwing some of the weights around, ma'am. Wasn't paying attention and took one to the chest. Josh hit Asad here as he ran toward me and I guess he whacked his head against something."

I looked at Josh, who nodded in approval of the story.

"Well, whatever happened, it wasn't serious," she said as she examined Asad. "He may have a light concussion, but other than that, he's fine. Now, let's see you."

I hopped onto the bed, wincing as I moved.

The doctor raised her scanner and slowly moved it over my chest, checking my bones through the x-ray function on it.

"It looks pretty good, considering how bad it could have been. You have two cracked ribs and a little bit of bruising on a few others. You need to rest for a couple of weeks in order for it to heal, so War Games are a definite no. And no combat for a while as well, despite what's been happening lately."

"What's been going on?" I asked, raisin myself up on one arm.

"You don't know?" she asked.

"You may want to fill us in, we were in a War Game all morning," Josh said, moving over from Asad.

"The Covenant found Reach," she said, her eyes filled with sorrow. "It's gone now. And Earth is the last stronghold we have now."

**Author's Note**

**A lot more dialog in this chapter than I wanted, but I feel like it worked out well.**

**About the armor: I am using Halo: Reach permutations for my armor in order to fit with the cheaper Spartan III armors and the time frame the story is in right now.**

**Thank you to those who are reading my story! I just recently reached 1,000 views, and I gotta say thank you for inspiring me to keep writing. Without you guys, this story wouldn't exist. So, thanks again.**

**Until next time, R&R!**


	12. Dropping In

**1000 Hours, October 21, 2552**

**Sol System, Outer Atmosphere of Earth**

I walked to the bridge of the UNSC _Inclement Weather_. As I walked by, the two marines guarding the entrance saluted and let me pass. As I stepped onto the bridge, a wild frenzy of activity was taking place. Bridge personnel were moving everywhere, shouting out information from their different terminals. Terminals surrounded the middle of the room, which contained a large holotable with a great deal of flashing red and green lights representing our forces and the Covenant.

Standing next to the table was a thin, short man who was gazing out the viewport in front of him. He had a grey uniform and a matching cap, with the two bars of a Captain on his shoulder.

I walked up behind him and saluted.

"Captain."

The man turned around.

Captain Redwood wasn't the best of captains. He had been the captain of one of the UNSC's few destroyers, but had lost it within a month of command. One covenant scout corvette had gutted the ship, and in a moment of panic, Redwood had ordered all hands to abandon ship. The pods that had launched were fish in a barrel, dead as soon as they exited the tubes. But, they served as enough of a distraction for the good captain to make his escape. There were no survivors except for him and his bridge crew.

On his return, he had been court martialed, but there had been no wrong doing found. He had ordered hands to abandon ship, had detonated it as per the Cole Protocol, and had attempted to rescue other survivors. But, the brass had never trusted him with a large command again, and he had been captain of this ship since 2537.

"Ah," he said, after he had returned my salute and asked me to stand at ease. "Are the Spartans ready, son?"

"Yes sir. We're waiting for your order."

"Very good. Maybe we can get the jump on the apes before they even know what's happened. Head on over to the drop bay with the rest of your buddies, we're getting ready to drop you soon. Your final briefing will be in ten minutes."

"Understood sir." I saluted again and started to walk off the bridge.

As I walked away, I couldn't help but stare out the viewport. Two MAC stations were in pieces, flying through space almost lazily. One station was left, but it was heavily damaged. The broken hulls of ships, both UNSC and Covenant, littered the space all around us. And beneath it all, Earth.

Two days ago, we had intercepted a transmission from Cairo Station, the one remaining orbital MAC station that Earth was under attack. We had already been enroute to Earth, as its defenses were being strengthened in case of attack. But, it apparently hadn't been enough. The wreckage moved in the void, a reminder of the tremendous loss of life.

As I reached the elevator and pressed the button for the drop bay, I looked at my helmet in my hands. It was the same recon helmet I had been given a couple months ago, but with a few changes. The red stripe down the center of the helmet was now a thick lightning bolt, reaching down to the top of my gold visor. The CNM was attached as well, but I had also added a camera to the side to give me both a wider view and for recording purposes. The armor I was wearing was similar, with red lightning replacing the stripes, with a little extra red thrown in. On the clamps that had held sniper rounds on my shoulders were extra clips for my assault rifle.

I reached the drop bay and stepped inside. Jacob was sitting on a crate on the far side of the bay, sharpening his knife on his armor. He had the standard recruit armor, with a rising sun in the center of it, like the old Japanese war flags of the 20th century. We had all asked him why he wanted the standard set, but he had only smiled and brushed us off. On his wrist was a TACPAD, useful for commanding the team. He gave me a nod as I stepped into the bay.

Austin gave me a Spartan smile over his helmet and went back to adjusting his scope. He was wearing black and white armor, with the Hazop variants for both his helmet and shoulders. He had a silver visor. On his chest plate, he had two sets of grenades in a bandolier on either side of his chest. On his lower back was a pack of C10 and a can of C7 on his hip. He always was saying that we never knew when we needed more explosives.

Simon was messing with his shotgun, pumping the slide back and forth to make sure it wouldn't jam. He was a giant in his armor compared to the rest of us, standing at six feet tall. His armor was blue and black, with a spider web design around the chest plate. His helmet was the pilot variant with a black visor, and EVA variants for his shoulders. His chest plate was the Assault permutation, with extra shotgun shells on his wrist.

Kara was busy sliding attachments onto her SRS, making sure it would be accurate in a city. Her armor was the standard olive green, with no design on it. She had the standard Scout permutation for her entire armor set. The only difference was that she had a green visor instead of the usual colors of gold, blue, silver, and regular.

Hannah was loading clips for her SMGs, which were much better for close range combat and were great for suppressing fire. She was wearing an EVA helmet with a gold visor, with Mark V shoulder plates. She had the Multi-Threat chest plate with a yellow bull's-eye painted over it. She always joked that it would probably make the Covies shoot worse, since their aim was so poor.

In the corner of the bay was Nova and Raptor teams. The rest of the Spartans had gone to other drop bays because we all couldn't fit in one bay. I nodded to Josh and ignored the rest of his team as I walked across the rest of the room to my SOEIV.

I racked the bolt of my assault rifle and placed it into the slot to my right, but kept my sidearm on me. I glanced into the confined space, and quickly looked away. I was not looking forward to being in a confined space, hurtling at high velocity from a high altitude with burning hot temperatures surrounding me. I shuddered. My fear of heights still hadn't lessened over the years.

A blue light came from one of the projectors in the room and produced the form of Athena, with her Greek robes and a helmet on her head.

"Mornin' Athena," Josh said with a mock bow as his team and Raptor joined us.

"Good morning Spartan G315. I am here for your briefing, but I must make it short, as they require my full attention on the bridge due to the battle raging through the space around us."

A hologram of a city appeared to her right.

"As you all know, two days ago, Earth was attacked by a small group of Covenant ships. One made it down to this city, New Mombasa. It contained a high ranking Prophet, but it-"

"I'm sorry ma'am, but… what's a Prophet?" Jacob asked.

"It is a high ranking official in the Covenant hierarchy. I am sure you are aware of the Unggoy, the Kig-Yar, the Sangheili, the Jiralhanae, and the Lekgolo?"

"Yeah, the Grunts, Jackals, Elites, Brutes, and Hunters," Austin piped up as he tried to cram a rocket launcher into his pod.

"Exactly. The Prophets are their ruling class. As I was saying, the ship with the Prophet made a Slipspace jump inside of the city, causing massive destruction and loss of life. Caught up in the explosion was a group of ODSTs that were attempting to board the ship and capture the Prophet. Your specific job is to drop into the city, find as many of those ODSTs as you can, and bring them safely back to our lines. Stealth is optional, but it is heavily advised, as the city is under enemy control. Any questions?"

"What kind of support will we have?" I asked, staring anxiously at my pod. I felt like I was about to throw up. Hey, you would to if you had to jump from orbit in a superheated, fast-moving deathtrap.

"You will have no support on this mission. All of our forces are busy holding off the Covenant on the ground and in space. They cannot be spared."

"Understood," I said, nodding. We would be going in with no support to find a bunch of missing soldiers who we didn't even know the location of to bring them back to a failing resistance, while being surrounded at all times. I loved my job.

"Very well Spartans, drop will be in three minutes. Make sure you are ready, and then take a seat in your pods. The leaders of each team will check to be sure your pods are airtight, then we will be ready to send you on your way."

I placed my helmet over my head, but didn't polarize the visor.

"Hey, Jacob."

"Yeah?"

"Where in New Mombasa are we landing in?"

He shrugged. "Come to think of it, I don't really know. I'll let you know when we're in the pods. My pod needs to adjust your pod to make sure that you hit the landing zone, so I'm sure I'll be able to figure it out. You hear that, Eclipse? We're going in a little blind!"

A chorus of affirmatives went up, then everyone started to head to their respective pods. I gulped and stepped into mine. The hatch flew over the front of the pod and locked into place. I started to breath a little bit more quickly. Sure, I had run simulations of this in training. Sure, I felt we were ready, but I couldn't shake the fear as I heard a tap on my pod. I tapped back.

One minute later, the pod started to move. I started to sweat. Soon, I was on the underbelly of the _Inclement Weather_. I looked down. Far below me was the continent of Africa, with swirling white clouds flying over it. If I concentrated with my enhanced eyesight, I could see little flashes of light all over the planet; explosions occurring from the Covenant invasion.

_Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, I'm so freaking high up!_

Two screens flashed on, showing Josh and Jacob. Jacob flashed a thumbs up. "Are you guys ready? Sound off!"

"Reaper Two here. About as ready as we'll ever be," I heard Kara respond.

"Reaper Three, ready to rock," Simon said.

"Reaper Four, let's blow some crap up!" I heard Austin say giddily.

"Reaper Five," I said, now shaking in my seat. "Nervous as heck, but still ready to go!"

"Reaper Six, ready when you are," Hannah said, finishing the sound off.

"We have ten seconds you guys, brace yourselves!"

The pod made a beeping noise for each second that ticked by. Then, everything went wrong.

I saw a flash of blue strike the bridge of the _Inclement Weather_, causing a rumble to go through the ship. A fireball leapt out of the ship and began to race towards us.

"Screw it, jump now!" I heard Josh shout, yelling at the top of his voice.

I saw the pods around me begin to fall away from the underbelly of the ship. But mine didn't budge. I shook the pod, but it didn't move. It was stuck!

"Darnit, move you piece of crap! Move!" I yelled desperately as the fireball reached the MAC gun, less than two hundred meters ahead of me.

"Darren, you alright over there? What's happening!"

"My pod's jammed! It won't move!"

"Try to shift your weight around, it might break it loose!"

I began to jump again, shifting the pod back and forth. The pod moved a little bit with a shower of sparks coming down the window in front of me.

I looked up. 100 meters. Seventy-five meters. Fifty meters.

"_Move!_" I gave one final jump, and with a burst of sparks, the pod broke free. Next thing I knew, I was in free-fall. I looked above me to the _Inclement Weather_. It was wreathed in explosions, slowly drifting into the atmosphere. A beam of plasma smashed through the ship again, and with a final explosion, sealed the ship's fate. The _Inclement Weather_ was blown to pieces, filling the space around where it had been with metal and bodies of the crew. I gagged and looked down.

I had reached the atmosphere, by now. I could see the metropolis of New Mombasa spread out beneath me, growing larger every second. My pod was so hot, I could feel it in my armor.

"Darren, are you alright!?" I heard Hannah yell over the comm.

"Yes, I'm fine. That was a close one!"

"Darren. Darren, come in. Darren!" Jacob yelled.

_They can't hear me. My radio's broken!_

I felt the yank of the chute over the pod pull taut. I thumped the side of my helmet and tried again.

"I'm alright you guys!"

"Darren! We thought you were a goner." I heard Simon say. "Too bad it wasn't true."

"Hey, screw you."

I heard the others laugh as a fire began to surround the outside of my pod.

I joined them, but then I stopped.

How many Spartans, Marines, and Navy crewmen had just died?

With that happy thought, I fell to New Mombasa.

**Author's Note: I have exams coming up, so this will be the last chapter for a while. I hope it's good enough to keep you busy for the next couple of weeks. I would also like to respond to the guest who is reviewing each of my chapters. Your reviews have helped me **_**so**_** much. Thank you! I also want to thank each of you who are reading this.**

**Until next time, R&R!**


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